Flutterby™! : Nightmare 2007-08-27 12:37:12.509602+00

Nightmare

2007-08-27 12:37:12.509602+00 by ebradway 11 comments

I greatly apologize for posting this link. I know we are all trying to forget the lies. I came across that site while looking for links for my post about the Bush Admin destroying the EPA Libraries and Labs.

#Comment Re: made: 2007-08-27 15:23:07.994699+00 by: Dan Lyke [edit history]

#Comment Re: made: 2007-08-27 15:39:09.780282+00 by: jeff [edit history]

Let's not forget that Dick Cheney was one of the original PNAC signatories, which started gathering momentum in 1997, about three years after this interview. Here are the other signatories:

Paul Wolfowitz I. Lewis Libby Jeb Bush Steve Forbes William J. Bennett Elliott Abrams Gary Bauer Eliot A. Cohen Midge Decter Paula Dobriansky Aaron Friedberg Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney Fred C. Ikle Donald Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad Norman Podhoretz Dan Quayle Peter W. Rodman Stephen P. Rosen Henry S. Rowen Vin Weber George Weigel

#Comment Re: What is the influence of PNAC today? made: 2007-08-28 12:36:32.152836+00 by: m

Another war of aggression, this time with Iran, seems to remain probable. More promises of tax cuts for the very rich. More destruction of the Constitution. Higher deficits -- remember that Grover Norquist wanted to shrink government until it could be drowned in a bathtub, presumably in a sea of red ink.

#Comment Re: made: 2007-08-28 16:13:38.488332+00 by: jeff [edit history]

And most of this remains completely hidden and oblivious to the legions of voting "sheeple" in what is left of our country.

To give one an idea as to how oblivious most feel good voters are, while I was driving last night a large group of people were holding anti-war signs along a main thoroughfare. I pulled to the side and congratulated them on their efforts, but when I asked who they were supporting, they did not have a candidate in mind, not knowing Ron Paul was the only candidate in the race for the presidency who was opposed to the war, voted against it and would bring the troops home immediately. This typifies the voting public. It makes them feel good to express their opinions but they are not informed to know how to enact or follow through on their beliefs. Well-intentioned but ineffectual.

#Comment Re: made: 2007-08-28 16:42:37.069261+00 by: jeff [edit history]

I'm not a betting man, but if I were I'd bet that more registered voters believe that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11 than those who know that Ron Paul wants to end our involvement in the current untenable situation (civil war in Iraq). And that's partly a function of the "powers" which control a good portion of our media.

#Comment Re: More Thought and Freedom of Speech Repression made: 2007-08-31 11:07:31.459973+00 by: jeff [edit history]

Eric--for someone apparently as passionately involved in academia as you, there should have been no need on your part to apologize starting this thread or citing the link above. The "nightmare" of the disease being promulgated by PNAC, special interest groups, and the Bush Administration is now spreading to academia. Consider the intensifying situation at DePaul University:

DePaul is shaping up to be a central battleground in the struggle to defend dissent and critical thinking in academia. Not only has Dr. Norman Finkelstein unjustly been denied tenure (along with Dr. Mehrene Larudee), the university has cancelled his classes, locked him out his office, placed him on academic leave and is even threatening to arrest him if he comes on campus.

Finkelstein has said that regardless, he will come on campus and teach his classes. In an interview with Inside Higher Ed (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/08/27/depaul), he said, "If the university attempts to impede my movements I intend to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience and go to jail. If incarcerated I intend to go on a protracted hunger strike until DePaul comes to its senses. It is regrettable that I have been driven to such drastic actions to defend basic principles of academic freedom and my contractual rights, upon which DePaul has been riding roughshod for so long." You can read a lot more on the situation at Finkelstein's website:

We would like to highlight two things. The first is an article from DePaul Philosophy professor Bill Martin, "Urgent Need to Right Wrongs at DePaul University ." Martin powerfully conveys the damage already done by the DePaul administration and the urgent need to reverse the decisions. As he notes, "The cost for not standing up will be enormous: DePaul will be destroyed as a place deserving of respect in the intellectual and academic worlds, and, if this happens, academic freedom will be under attack everywhere." You can read the article on our website (which, incidentally, has been completely redone):

The second is the ongoing resistance and organization of students at DePaul. They have formed the DePaul Academic Freedom Committee. They are planning a protest and press conference for the first day of class - Wednesday September 5th. This is the day that the students that would be in Professor Finkelstein's class would have gone to his classes (which start at 8:30am). They have also organized an exciting conference on October 12. Called "In Defense of Academic Freedom," It will feature Akeel Bilgrami, Noam Chomsky, Tony Judt, John Mearsheimer, Neve Gordon, with host Tariq Ali. It will take place at Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago . You can read more about the conference and their activities at: http://www.academicfreedomchicago.org/ The DePaul AFC is asking that people send an email letting the DePaul administration know what you think of their actions. Here are some of their emails:

DePaul University President, Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M. - president@depaul.edu

DePaul Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dr. Charles Suchar - csuchar@depaul.edu

info@academicfreedomchicago.org, normangf@hotmail.com, criticalxthinking@yahoo.com

Freedom of speech and finding truths are both part of what made our country great, and are worth fighting for. If we become complacent, these basic rights will over time be slowly (but inexorably) stripped from our very being. We can't let that happen.

Jeff: Just a few words, I'm studying at the University of Colorado - Boulder and I'm very familiar with the Ward Churchill case. I don't really have time to rehash the academic freedom and tenure issue - and I really don't want to do that on Flutterby, where there is a general animosity towards formal education...

Eric--I understand your position. I have to admit that I wasn't aware about the animosity towards formal education here at Flutterby. Regardless of the institution, however, the increasing censorship and attacks on freedom of speech are quite disturbing to me. At least you're aware of the growing phenomenon, too.

I dunno about a general animosity, I think it's more an amused animosity from me and Meuon. I'd actually appreciate a good rundown of the Churchill case, I saw about half of an exchange Eric had with someone (because of some issues in the mailing list that it was on), and I thought Eric's side of that conversation was pretty on target.